education

A hugely powerful vision: A potent addition to our learning ecosystems of the future

On 04/09/2011, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, change, colleges, convergence, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, distance education, e-books, e-readers, education, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, global / globalization, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, immersion, informal learning, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, interface design, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning agents, learning ecosystem, learning spaces, lifelong learning, marketplaces, mobile learning, mobile technologies, multi-touch, multimedia, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, pace of change, personalized/customized learning, platforms, play, podcasting, professional development, reinvent, RSS, simulations, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, social media, society, storytelling, strategy, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, surviving, tablets, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, technology (general), telecommunications, telepresence, television, transmedia, trends, ubiquitous learning, universities, user experience (UX), using teams, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, by Daniel Christian

Daniel Christian:
A Vision of Our Future Learning Ecosystems

In the near future, as the computer, the television, the telephone (and more) continues to converge, we will most likely enjoy even more powerful capabilities to conveniently create and share our content as well as participate in a global learning ecosystem — whether that be from within our homes and/or from within our schools, colleges, universities and businesses throughout the world.

We will be teachers and students at the same time — even within the same hour — with online-based learning exchanges taking place all over the virtual and physical world. Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) — in the form of online-based tutors, instructors, teachers, and professors — will be available on demand. Even more powerful/accurate/helpful learning engines will be involved behind the scenes in delivering up personalized, customized learning — available 24x7x365. Cloud-based learner profiles may enter the equation as well.

The chances for creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship that are coming will be mind-blowing! What employers will be looking for — and where they can look for it — may change as well.

What we know today as the “television” will most likely play a significant role in this learning ecosystem of the future. But it won’t be like the TV we’ve come to know. It will be much more interactive and will be aware of who is using it — and what that person is interested in learning about. Technologies/applications like Apple’s AirPlay will become more standard, allowing a person to move from device to device without missing a beat. Transmedia storytellers will thrive in this environment!

Much of the professionally done content will be created by teams of specialists, including the publishers of educational content, and the in-house teams of specialists within colleges, universities, and corporations around the globe. Perhaps consortiums of colleges/universities will each contribute some of the content — more readily accepting previous coursework that was delivered via their consortium’s membership.

An additional thought regarding higher education and K-12 and their Smart Classrooms/Spaces:
For input devices…
The “chalkboards” of the future may be transparent, or they may be on top of a drawing board-sized table or they may be tablet-based. But whatever form they take and whatever is displayed upon them, the ability to annotate will be there; with the resulting graphics saved and instantly distributed. (Eventually, we may get to voice-controlled Smart Classrooms, but we have a ways to go in that area…)

Below are some of the graphics that capture a bit of what I’m seeing in my mind…and in our futures.

Alternatively available as a PowerPoint Presentation (audio forthcoming in a future version)

— from Daniel S. Christian | April 2011

Wireless Generation — innovation within education

On 04/08/2011, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, analytics, education, emerging technologies, future, game-changing environment, innovation, K-12 related, learner profiles, learning agents, personalized/customized learning, by Daniel Christian

Also see their information on Burst — for early literacy

and their estimate product launch dates:

Tagged with: 1:1 • 21st century • 24x7x365 • analytics • customized learning • education • emerging technologies • future • game-changing environment • innovation • K-12 • learner profiles • Learning Agents • personalized learning • Wireless

TEDxNYED Talks

On 04/06/2011, in change, dangers of the status quo, education, education reform, education technology, engagement / engaging students, K-12 related, love of learning, passions, pedagogy, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

Some presentations:

From DSC:
A couple of my take-aways from Will’s presentation:
We need life prep, not test prep.
We need a “different” system vs striving to make the current system “better”.

Also see:

Also see the TEDxNYED Speaker Lineup:

Don Buckley, Co-Host
Sylvia Martinez, Co-Host
Rinat Aruh
Steve Bergen
Patrick Carman
Luyen Chou
Brian Crosby
Maria Fico and John Ellrodt
Lucy Gray
Heidi Hayes Jacobs
Dennis Littky
Morley
Stacey Murphy
Will Richardson
Alan November
Gary S. Stager
Samona Tait
Homa Tavangar

Tagged with: change • dangers of the status quo • education • education reform • educational technology • engagement • Keeping students engaged • love of learning • motivation • passions • pedagogy • vision

Well done video re: teaching in the 21st century, asking, “What does it mean to teach?”

On 03/29/2011, in 21st century, education, education reform, engagement / engaging students, learning theories, student teaching/teacher education, teachers, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

Originally saw this at:
The Educator’s PLN- posted by Chris McEnroe on 3/28/11

Also, very relevant here is the following posting from Arne Duncan at ED.gov blog:

The Changing Face of American Education
(Cross-posted from the White House Blog)

One of the greatest challenges facing our country is the coming retirement of more than 1 million baby-boomer teachers. This challenge has presented us with a once in a lifetime opportunity to help reshape education in America by recruiting and training the next generation of great American teachers.

Teaching is a rewarding and challenging profession where you can make a lasting impact. Teachers have a positive influence on students, schools, and communities, now and into the future. Schools across the nation are in need of a diverse set of talented teachers, especially in our big cities and rural areas, and especially in the areas of Math, Science, Technology, Special Education, and English Language Learning.

That’s why the department launched the TEACH campaign — a bold new initiative to inspire and empower the most talented and dedicated Americans to become teachers. We know that next to parental support, there is nothing more important to a child’s education than the quality of his or her teachers.

Many of you are already thinking about becoming teachers. The TEACH campaign provides tools at your fingertips to navigate the academic and professional requirements that will credential you to succeed as a teacher in one of our schools. TEACH.gov features an online path to teaching and over 4,000 listed, open teaching positions.

Also see:

Four Characteristics of Successful Teachers — from Faculty Focus by Maryellen Weimer

Tagged with: 21st century • education • education reform • engagement • engaging students • learning theories • student teaching/teacher education • teachers • teaching & learning

Projections of Education Statistics to 2019

On 03/25/2011, in education, future, K-12 related, society, United States, by Daniel Christian

This edition of Projections of Education Statistics provides projections for key education statistics, including enrollment, graduates, teachers, and expenditures in elementary and secondary public and private schools. Included are national data on enrollment and graduates for the past 15 years and projections to the year 2019. Also included are state-level data on enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools and public high schools from year 2001 and projections to year 2019. This report is organized by the level of schooling with sections 1, 2, 3, and 4 concerned with aspects of elementary and secondary education and sections 5 and 6 concerned with aspects of post secondary education.

Tagged with: education • future • K-12 • society • statistics • United States

21st century education requires lifewide learning [Dede]

On 03/24/2011, in 21st century, digital learning, education, education reform, innovation, lifelong learning, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

21st century education requires lifewide learning — from Harvard Business Review by Chris Dede

I have decided to spend the remainder of my career helping to replace industrial era schooling with educational structures better suited to our 21st century, global, innovation-based economy. This sweeping goal of total educational transformation may seem overly ambitious for someone whose work centers in learning technologies. However, in my research I consistently find that new media are at the heart of innovative models for education: contributing to the obsolescence of traditional schools/universities as educational vehicles, while simultaneously empowering new forms of learning and teaching.

Tagged with: 21st century • education • education reform • innovation • Lifelong learning • teaching & learning

Educating the Creative Leaders of Tomorrow

On 03/22/2011, in 21st century, creativity, education, future, higher education, K-12 related, learning spaces, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Also see:

How does education prepare tomorrow’s leaders for this fast paced interconnected business world?
Roger Martin, Daniel Pink and Jim Keane Discuss this in the Live Steelcase 360 Discussion: Educating the Creative Leaders of Tomorrow
NEW YORK – March 18, 2011 – Coming out of the recent recession, problems are more complex, markets are more volatile and change is more rapid. Education must keep pace. So how can educators prepare students to lead in today’s interconnected world? Today, Steelcase is bringing together three of the most influential thinkers on management and education to discuss this topic in its live, virtual panel discussion: Educating the Creative Leaders of Tomorrow.

Tagged with: creativity • education • future • higher education • K-12 • learning spaces • management • workplace

The Education Game-Changer [Neal Bascomb]

On 03/22/2011, in education, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, future, game-changing environment, by Daniel Christian

The Education Game-Changer — from the Huffington Post by Neal Bascomb (author of THE NEW COOL, a story about science, education, and robots)

Charter schools, standardized tests, merit pay, teacher tenure — worthy topics, but ones about incremental movements in an American educational system desperate for a game-changer.

…

A noble ambition, but the truth is we already have the technology to transform education and return American schools to their preeminence in the world. The game-changer is the creation of a first-class, digital educational platform with enhanced, immersive lessons across a range of subjects at all grade levels. Technology will be in our schools, the focus should be on the quality of content on their screens.

For generations calculus has been taught the same way.

…

Now imagine learning calculus in a new way. Color tablet computer in hand, students choose their preferred learning style (lecture-based, symbolic, text, or visual). They set their own pace and level of interactivity. They select the avatar of their choice to deliver lectures (will.i.am, anyone) and how often they need to be quizzed to determine/aid retention. The standards of what is taught do not change, but their presentation is remarkably transformed. Instead of a blur of equations and two-dimensional graphs, imagine calculus illustrated with 3-D animations and defined in terms of its real-world applications. Solving a differential equation to determine trajectory is a lot more interesting if we make it about a doomsday scenario of an asteroid crashing into Earth — or just missing. Such video game-like techniques would be part and parcel of this new platform. Add in a social network, where students can interact with their peers, and an “app” market where experts offer their own pieces of the puzzle, and this platform comes even more alive.

More here…

Tagged with: education • education reform • educational technology • future • game-changing environment • games

What is the place of learning theory in policy discussions? In educational reform?

On 03/21/2011, in change, Daniel S. Christian, education, education reform, leadership, learning theories, legislatures / government / legal, organizational change, pedagogy, policy, strategy, tools, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
In my recent class at Capella University, one of the last discussion board questions asked:

Do you think learning theory should be more explicit in official discussions of policy?

What a great question! My answer was yes, as it makes sense to me to guide educational reform by what is best for the students…for learning. Hopefully, we can make informed decisions. Though I’ve learned that there is no silver bullet when it comes to learning theories, each learning theory seems to be a piece of the puzzle for how we learn. Graphically speaking:

If viewing the above graphic on the Learning Ecosystems blog (vs. in an RSS feed/reader):
You may need to right-click on the above image and save it, then open it.

Such theories should have a place when policies are drafted, when changes are made. But I don’t often hear reference to the work of Thorndike, Bandura, Vygotsky, Gagne, Kolb, etc. when legislative bodies/school boards/or other forms of educational leadership are exploring future changes, directions, strategies. What is it that these people were trying to relay to us? What value can we gleam from them when we form our visions of the future? How does their work inform our selection of pedagogies, tools, organizational changes?